Decomposition of soil and permafrost organic matter eroding into the Beaufort Sea near Drew Point, Alaska ...

• Main Authors: Bristol, Emily M, Chanton, Jeffrey, Jones, Benjamin M, Bull, Diana L, McClelland, James W, Connolly, Craig T, Bosman, Samantha
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Environmental Data Initiative 2024
• Subjects: Arctic; Arctic Ocean; Beaufort Sea; permafrost; Tundra; Alaska
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.6073/pasta/49fdcfd3b13e6472d1fc2d9869d7a40f; https://portal.edirepository.org/nis/mapbrowse?packageid=knb-lter-ble.31.1

Arctic coastal erosion mobilizes large quantities of permafrost organic matter to the Arctic Ocean, where it may be decomposed, releasing carbon dioxide. To quantify the biodegradability of this eroding material, we designed an aerobic bottle incubation experiment to measure CO2 production from coastal soils/sediments submerged in seawater. Seasonally thawed active layer soils and permafrost were sampled near Drew Point along the Alaska Beaufort Sea coast. Cores were taken from three surface geomorphic classifications common in this area: primary surface that has not been reworked by thaw-lake cycles, a young drained lake basin, and an ancient drained lake basin. Core subsamples were chosen to represent three distinct horizons present in eroding bluffs at Drew Point: seasonally thawed active layer soils near the tundra surface, Holocene-age terrestrial soils and/or lake sediments, and late-Pleistocene age relict marine sediments. Soil/sediment subsamples were mixed with Beaufort Sea surface water and ...